IlIBRARY OF CONGRESS. I 

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I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. { 



RECONSTRUCTION. 



SPEECH 




HON. ROSWELL HART, OF NEW YORK. 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, MARCH 24, 18GG. 



The House, as in Committee of the Whole on the 
etate of the Union, having under consideration the 
Presidentjs annual message — 

Mr. ^ ART said: 

Mr. Speaker: The pestilent heresy of Cal- 
houn found its culmination in States dis- 
cordant and belligerent, which with force of 
arms sought to establish a new dominion 
where slavery might be enthroned forever. 
The rapid growth of liberal ideas among the 
people, together with the imperious demands 
of slavery itself for more than was nominated 
in the bond, gave token that the power of sla- 
very in the Government was rapidly waning. 
The doctrine of State sovereignty was not as- 
serted by the men of the South so much to 
maintain and defend the dignity of the reserved 
rights of the States as to keep open a door by 
which, whenever they came to believe their 
sacred institution of slavery was in danger, they 
might withdraw from the Union into a new 
fabric wherein they might keep it safe from 
harm. Their loyalty to the Government solely 
consisted in obedience to its laws so long only 
as it was their interest to do so. For thirty 
years they had the control of the Government 
and its policy. Statesmen and people obeyed 
their sovereign commands. Whatever tended 
to advance the interests of freedom or develop 
and expand the energies of a free people was 
the special object of their attack. While claim- 
ing all the honors under the Constitution for 
themselves, they denied that it contained any 
guarantees for freedom worth respecting. In 
the Government, in Congress, in the courts, in 
political conventions, within their own borders 
they assumed to be above all constitutional con- 
trol. They believed themselves a superior race, 
and all others born thralls to their imperious 
command. 

The North suffered long, and was kind. 
Steadily and loyally adhering to the revolting 
compacts of the Constitution, they enacted 
and enforced fugitive slave laws. When bullied 



and threatened, they with kindness and sub- 
mission compromised. The press and peo- 
ple cried down and hunted with maledictions 
the few who here and there found tlieir man- 
hood getting the better of their i)olitics. The 
mad-dog cry of "abolitionist" was straightway 
started upon all who dared to question the 
right of man to hold his fellow-mun as prop- 
erty and sell him like an ox in the shambles, 
and all parties joined the hue and cry. 

But the time at last came when the South, 
alarmed at the rapid increase of free States, 
saw the power which they had so long controlled 
was about to pass from their hands. Some 
counteraction must be made. New Territories 
were sought, and States were to be organized, 
in order that their representation in the General 
Government should balance the new accessions 
of strength to the side of freedom. The elec- 
tion of President came on, and at last they saw 
the North in full panoply of power, ready to try 
conclusions with them and question their time- 
honored pretensions to absolute control of the 
Government. The time had come when slavery 
must go down ; not by the power of the Gov- 
ernment, not by the act of the people ; but by 
the inherent weakness of slavery itself. Slavery 
now "'clutched but a barren scepter in its 
gripe." Then started up again, though "with 
twenty mortal murders on its crown," the old 
spirit of State sovereignty and the right to secede 
from the Union, asserted not because they had 
suffered wrong and were threatened with wrong ; 
on the contrary, our good President plainly 
told them : 

" I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to inter- 
fere with the institution of slavery in the States where 
it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do it, 
and I have no inclination to do so." 

Mr. Alexander H. Stephens, in his speech 
before the convention of Georgia, plainly con- 
fessed that the South had no grievances to re- 
dress, and asked them : ' 

" What right has the North assailed ? What inter- 
est of the South has been invaded ? What j ustice has 
been denied ? And what claim founded in j ustice and 



;/"(.; 






right has been withheld? Can either of you to-day 
nameonc governmental act of wrongdeliberately and 
purpuxly d'lue by the Governmentof Washington of 
which tlic South has a right to complain?" 

And. again, he says: 

" I must declare here, as I have often done before, 
andwliiehhasbeenrepeatedby the greatest and wisest 
statesmen and patriots in this and other lands, that it 
is the best and freest Government, the must equal in 
its rights, the most just in its decisions, the mostlen- 
ient in its measures, andthe most aspiring in its prin- 
ciples to elevate the race of men that the sun of 
heaven ever shone upon." 

The simple truth was, they intended to try 
the experiment of secession for no other rea- 
son than because they saw the doom of slavery 
was recorded. It could no longer sit in the 
high places of the Government and mold the 
policy of the nation. It was not enough that 
the people and Congress were ready to abase 
themselves even lower in the dust and at their 
feet in tenderest accents implore them not 
to be angry with us because for once we had 
beaten them in an election ; that to make sure 
that no harm could result to slavery we would 
put an amendment into the Constitution that 
would eifectually bind us and our heirs forever 
never to disturb their darling institution. They 
attempted to secede only because slavery was 
dethroned. Hereditary ruler they believed it 
to be ; it must have a new throne provided. 
"Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." 
Alexander H. Stephens, two months after he 
had so bravely uttered his noble defense of 
the Government, said of the new government 
which treason had founded : 

" The foundations of our new government are laid 
upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to 
the white man; that slavery, subordination to the 
superior race, is his natural and normal condition." 

Here, then, is the cause of the war ; not seces- 
sion, but slavery. The one was but the means 
by which the other was to be perpetuated. Jt 
is this we have been combatting in the mem- 
orable struggle of the past five years. It was 
necessary to break up the Union in prder to 
perpetuate slavery. The nation took up arms 
to prevent the disruption of the Union, which 
had been attempted as a means to this end. 
But even if the proclamation had never been 
issued, and the constitutional amendment had 
never boon adopted, the existence of slavery 
was placed upon the hazard of the issue, and 
was destroyed in the defeat of the rebellion. 

But the war and the proclamation and con- 
stitutional enactment have settled the ques- 
tion forever. What remains now to consider 
is what course shall be followed in restoring 
these States to their proper relations to the 
Federal Government. 

I have briefly alluded to the history of the 
pretensions of slavery and its relations to the 
bloody struggle of the nation, because I believe 
it should be kept prominently in view in all our 
plans of reconsti-uction. We must not permit 
ourselves to rest content with the delusion that 



all that is involved in the dread arbitrament of 
war which has just been decided is simply the 
preservation of the integrity of the Union. I 
do not deny that that was indeed " a consum- 
mation devoutly to be wished." But while the 
integrity of the Union was one of the points of 
defense and maintenance, justice, humanity, 
and right were more fearfully involved. We can- 
not, in honor, restore these States to their full 
relations to the Union until the bondsman Ve 
have set free shall stand erect in all the rights of 
citizenship, protected in person, projierty, and 
liberty, and burdened by no restriction imposed 
because of race or color. He has been the • ' cor- 
ner-stone" of the bastard government which 
they deiiantly reared in the view of the v/orld. 
They sought to throw about them a wall of 
adamant through which none could pass to 
strike off the manacles from his hands. We 
have broken down their strong wall and set the 
captive free, and it is now our work to see that 
new fetters are not forged again, and that the 
freedom we claim to have granted is not a de- 
lusion and a snare. If the Union is to be re- 
stored, it must not be "a Union as it was," 
where the insolence of class and the pretensions 
of an oligarchy shall obstruct the energies of 
the Government and bind heavy burdens upon 
the people too grievous to be borne. It must 
be a Union so strong no power Can sever it if 
it would, so homogeneous in character and so 
beneficeut in its mfiuence that none should even 
desire to sever it. In all its broad acres, where 
ever the humblest human being dwells, there 
shall liberty, pure and undefiled, have her hab- 
itation ; there shall the law give him peace and 
protection. 

In the consideration of the subject of recon- 
struction I care not to disturb myself with ideas 
of' State sinlessness" or "State immortality," 
or to know whether these States are dead, alive, 
or in a state of suspended animation. It is 
enough for me to know, the people who are 
within the boundaries of their respective States 
overthrew and destroyed the only government 
they had which was in relation to the Federal 
Government, and substituted in place thereof 
a rebellious one which we could not recognize. 
We know, too, that while in rebellion these peo- 
ple within the Ijuundaries of these States waged 
wanton and wicked war upon us ; that they 
prosecuted that war with a meanness and atro- 
city unparalleled In the annals of civilized war- 
fare ; that they attempted to burn our cities and 
scattei; pestilence among our people ; that they 
starved our soldiers who fell Into their hands; 
that they fashioned the skulls of our dead Into 
drinking-cups and their bones Into finger-rings, 
and that they practiced, from the beginning to 
the end, barbarities which would have shamed 
the savages of the kingdom of Dahomey; and 
that finally, after commencing with the greatest 
of all crimes, treason, and running through the 
entire calendar of infamy, they murdered our 



President. It is enough for me also to remem- 
ber that these perjured particides had many of 
theui taken upon their lips the solemn oath ^o 
support the Constitution of the United States, 
and yet were ready to strike at the heart of the 
nation that they might build up on its ruins a 
government that should have no better purpose 
than crushing the poor slave into irredeemable 
bondage. And when at last, by God's help and 
the strength of our right arm, these wretches 
are subdued and lie writhing at our feet, and 
we call to mind the enormity of their crime, 
how can any man who loves his country and 
defends his country's laws stand forth and pro- 
claim that these men have any rights what- 
ever except such as we in our tenderness and 
magnanimity choose to grant them ? They have 
by their stupendous crime become subject to 
the penalty of law, and instead of audaciously 
demanding recognition as fellow-citizens hav- 
ing equal rights with ourselves, should with 
becoming humility and shameness of face wait 
for the doors of mercy to open for their admis- 
sion. 

With such bitter memories so freshly engraven 
upon the hearts of the nation, while the tears 
of hundreds of thousands of mourners for the 
gallant dead are hardly dry ; while the echo of 
the universal wail of sorrow still lingers in the 
portals of the ear ; with a people groaning be- 
neath the weight of taxation which this rebellion 
has bound upon their shoulders, why is such hot 
haste manifested to take these parricides to our 
embrace again? " Swear them," do you say? 
Did they not many times heretofore swear be- 
fore God they would maintain and defend the 
Government? Yet they rebelled. What bind- 
ing force or security is there in an oath v/ith 
such men? Is it said they are conquered and 
are ready to submit? How are you to know 
that the vipers we take to our bosoms as they 
warm into active being again, shall not strike us 
a^ain with their poisonous fangs? On the 9th 
of June, 1864, Andrew Johnson asked the peo- 
ple of Tennessee: 

"But in calling a convention to restore the State, 
who shall restore and reestablish it? iShall the man 
who gave his influence and his means to destroy the 
Government? Is he to participate in the great work 
of reorganization? Shall he who brought this misery 
upon the State be permitted to continue its destinies ? 
If this be so, then all the precious blood of our brave 
soldiers and ofBcers so freely poured out, will ha^e 
been wantonly spilled; all the glorious victories won 
by our noble armies will go for naught, and all the 
battle-fields which have been sown with dead heroes 
during the rebellion will have been made memorable 
in vain." 

Sir, between us and these men there lies 

"A gulf profound as that Serbonian bog 
BetwLst Damiata and mount Casius old." 

When we reconstruct these States we owe it 
to j)eaceand human rights that we proceed with 
deliberation and caution, but at the same time 
without inviting rebels to participate in our 
deliberations. 



Wliatever plans of reconstruction may be 
adopted, we must not for a moment forgot with 
whom we have to deal. We do not mean to 
perpetuate the -wrangling discord of (he past 
thirty years or more, nor that we, or those who 
shall come after us should witness the ))loody 
drama of the past five years again (Mincted. 
We do not ask for bloody retribution (ui their 
crime ; _ we only demand security for the future, 
protection to all, universal freeclom, and no dis- 
crimination under the law against any human 
being within their borders. We have inaugu- 
rated a great social revolution in the soulhera 
States — a fundamental change in social order. 
Shall we leave it incomplete and throw it un- 
der the control of men whose education, habits, 
and prejudices are in deadly antagonism to its 
further progress? While the negro was prop- 
erty he was certain of at least so much care and 
protection as his owner would give liis horse 
or his ox, because he possessed a pecuniaiy 
value. Now that the tie of pro]-)erty is severed, 
he is left to the tender mercy of men who look 
upon him with hate and detestation, and blindly 
hold him to bitter account as the cause of all 
their present troubles. They will be slow to 
elevate the chattel to the dignity of the man. 
They may talk bravely of giving Inm his rights, 
but their ideas of human rights are not ours. 
They have been bred in a school which has 
taught them that a black man can have no 
rights which they are bound to respect. They 
have no comprehension of that pure repub- 
lican faith with which we of the North are im- 
bued, which recognizes all men equal before' 
the law, and that in the framework of free 
society all men sliould have equal share in its 
development and progress. 

It may be said these men are loyal to the 
Government. Yet what fruits of loyalty have 
yet been shown? Is it the loyalty of taking 
the oath? That they took long ago, yet re- 
belled. Their loyalty is not the golden fruit 
of conviction. It is the loyalty of submission 
only. 

" Who overcomes 
By force, hath overcome but half his foe." 

It is not that earnest love which yearns 
toward our country with ardent affection. It 
is not the return of that devotion vfhich thrills 
at the sight of the starry banner, the proud 
emblem of a great and free people, for it is hard 
to come so soon to love the hand that smote 
them. That they may hereafter be brought by 
slow degrees to that true loyalty which belongs 
to an American freeman I have no doubt ; but 
never if you make haste to restore them to 
power before the virus of slavery is ejected 
from their veins ; never, until every statute is 
blotted out forever, never again to be recorded, 
anew, which denies to any man, however hum- 
ble or lowly he may be, a single right which 
others have. 

That we have the power as well as the obli- 



4: 



gation to reconstruct these States cannot be 
successfully refiited. This point has been 
already moat ably argued by many distinguished 
gentlemen in this House. If there were no 
other argument in its vindication, that pertain- 
ing to our belligerent rights in the premises 
would be conclusive. That we have all the 
rights of the conqueror over the conquered, 
all the great public writers on the law of na- 
tions, together with our Supreme Court, agree. 

Says Vattel: 

"A civil war breaks the bands of society and gov- 
ernment, or at least suspends their force and effect; 
it produces in the nation two independent parties, 
who consider each other as enemies, and acknowledge 
no common judge. These two parties, therefore, 
must necessarily be considered as constituting, at 
least for a time, two distinct societies." 

The Supreme Court, in the well-known prize 
cases, have clearly defined our relations to 
these States: 

"Now, it is a proposition never doubted that the 
belligerent party who claims to be sovereign may 
exercise both belligerent and sovereign rights. 

*' Under the very peculiar constitution of this Gov- 
ernment, although the citizens owe supreme alle- 
giance to tlie Federal Government, they also owe a 
qualified allegiance to the State in which they are 
domiciled; their persons and property are subject to 
its laws. 

" Hence, in organizing this rebellion, they have 
acted as States claiming to be sovereign over all per- 
sons and property within their respective limits, and 
asserting a right to absolve their citizens from their 
allegiance to the Federal Government. Several of 
these Stntes have combined to form a new confeder- 
acy, claiming to be acknowledged by the world as a 
sovereign State. Their right to do so is now being 
decided by wager of battle. The ports and territory 
of each of these States are held in hostility to the 
General Government. It is no loose, unorganized 
insurrection, having no defined boundary or posses- 
sion. It has a boundary, marked by lines of bayo- 
nets, and which can only be crossed by force. South 
of this line is enemy's territory, because it is claimed 
and held in possession by an organized, hostile, and 
belligerent power. 

"All itersous residing within this territory, whose 
property may be used to increase the revenues of the 
hostile power, are in tiiis contest liable to be treated 
as enemies, though not foreigners. They have cast 
off their allegiance and made war on their Govern- 
ment, and are none the less enemies because they 
are traitors." 

Chief Justice Chase also, in Mrs. Alexan- 
ders case, 2 Wallace, delivered the opinion 
of the court as follows : 

"Wo must be governed by the principle of public 
law so often announced from this bench as applica- 
ble to civil and internaticmal wars, that all the people 
of each State or district in insurrection against the 
United States must be regarded as enemies until by 
the action of the Legislature and Executive, or other- 
wise, that relation is thoroughly and permanently 
changed." 

Who shall say that if while war was flagrant 
Congress had the right to raise armies, destroy 
and confiscate property, maintain a blockade, 
and take such other measures for the defense 
of the Union as seemed necessary, that its 
powers are exhausted for the further preserva- 
tion and safety of the Union? Hear again 
Vattel on the obligation of a nation to defend 
and preserve itself from ' ' threatening danger : ' ' 

"Since, then, a nation is obliged to preserve itself, 



it has a right to everything necessary for its preser- 
vation. For the law of nature gives us a right to 
everything without which we could noc fulfill our 
obligations; otherwise it would oblige us to impos- 
sibilities, or rather would contradict itself in pre- 
scribing a duty and prohibiting at the same time the 
only means of fulfiUiug it." «=***« 

"By an evident consequence from what has been 
said, a nation ought carefully to avoid, as much as 
possible, whatever may cause its destruction, or that 
of the State, which is the same thing." * * * 

"A nation or State has a right to everything that 
can secure it from such a threatening danger, and 
to keep at a distance whatever is capable of causing 
its ruin; and that from the very same reasons that 
establish its rights to the things necessary to its pres- 
ervation." 

The power to dispose of these States carries 
with it the power to restore in such manner a«. 
Congress may determine. 

But independent of our belligerent right t» 
adjust the social order of these States the Con- 
stitution makes it the express duty of Congress 
to "guarantee to every State a republican form 
of government." It was in this view, together 
with the war power in his hands as Commander- 
in-Chief, the President felt himself authorized . 
to inaugurate new governments in the rebel- 
lious States, which were "deprived of all civil 
government." And we find that Secretary 
Seward fully recognized that the whole power 
of restoration rested with Congress to deter- 
mine ; and in this he doubtless had the full 
approval and advice of the President. Here 
was a case of conflict of authority between Gov- 
ernor Sharkey, provisional governor of Mis- 
sissippi, where a writ of habeas corpus had 
been issued at his instance, directed to Gen- 
eral Slocum, as commander of the forces at 
Vicksburg. This writ General Slocum refused 
to obey, and Governor Sharkey appealed to 
Secretary Seward to order the writ obeyed. 
To this Mr. Seward replied as follows : 
[Telegram.] 

Washington, July 24, 1865. 
W. L. Sharkey, 

Provisional Governor of Missiseippi, Jackson.' 

Your telegram of the 21st has been received. The 
President sees no reason to interfere with General 
Sloeum's proceedings. The government of the State 
will be provisional only until the civil authorities 
shall be restored, with the approval of Congress. 
Meanwhile military authority cannot be withdrawn. 
AVILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

Again : Governor Marvin, the provisional 
governor of Florida, on entering upon the 
duties of his office, issued a proclamation to 
the people of Florida, setting forth the course 
of proceeding he proposed to pursue in reor- 
ganizing a government, and closing with the 
following statement, all of which proclamation 
he submitted to the President for his approval: 

"10. Upon the establishment of a republican form 
of State government, under a constitution which 
guaranties and secures liberty to all the inhabitants 
alike, without distinction of color, there will no 
longer exist any impediment in the way of restoring 
the State to its proper constitutional relations to the 
Governmentof the Uaited States, whereby its people 
will be entitled to protection by the United States 
against invasion, insurrection, and domestic vio- 
lence." 



To which Mr. Seward replied as follows : 

Department op State, 
Washington, September 12, 1865. 
Sir: Tour Excellency's letter of the 20th ultimo, 
■with the aceompanj-ing proclamation, has been re- 
ceivei.l and submitted to the President. The steps to- 
which it refers, toward reorganizing the government 
of Florida, seem to be in the main judicious, and good 
results from them may be hoped for. The presump- 
tion to which the proclamation refers, however, in 
favor of insurgents who may wish to vote, and who 
may have applied for, but not received, their par- 
dons, is not entirely approved, All applications for 
pardons will be duly considered, and will be disposed 
of as soon as may be practicable. It must, however, 
be dijftiuctly understood that the restoration to which 
your proclamation refers will be subject to the decis- 
ion of Conaress. 

I have the honor to be, your Excellency's obedient 
servant, WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 

His Excellency William Marvin, Provisional Gov- 
ernor of the State of Florida, Tallahassee. 

Those only oppose this doctrine who desire 
to see red-handed rebels restored to the full 
fruition of all the rights of citizenship and to 
be placed on entire equality with loyal men who 
have saved the nation from destruction. 

"The United States shall guarantee to every 
State a republican form of government," says 
the Constitution. What, then, is a republican 
form of government? The distinguished Sen- 
ator from Massachusetts has brilliantly illus- 
trated the true definition of the terra in his 
great speech in the Senate, which displayed the 
profundity of his learning not less than the 
resplendency of his intellect. But he derives 
his definition from the testimony of the fram- 
ers of the Constitution, from the principles as- 
serted by the fathers preceding *he Revolution, 
and from the utterances of legislative assem- 
blies. ^Vliile I do not question the exhaustive 
completeness of his authority and the accuracy 
of his definition, I think we may find it nearer 
by — where he that runs may read — in the Con- 
stitution itself. The Constitution clearly de- 
scribes that to be a republican form of govern- 
ment for which it was expressly framed. A 
government which shall " establish justice, in- 
sure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com- 
mon defense, promote the general welfare, and 
secure the blessings of liberty ;" a government 
whose "citizens shall be entitled to all privi- 
leges and immunities of other citizens ;'' where 
"no law shall be made prohibiting the free ex- 
ercise of religion;" where "the right of the 
people to keep and bear arms shall not be in- 
fringed;" where "the right of the people to 
be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
effects, against unreasonable searches and seiz- 
ures, shall not be violated," and where "no 
person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or 
property without due process of law." 

Have these rebellious States such a form of 
.government? If they have not, it is the duty 
of the United States to guaranty that they have 
it speedily. In an intelligent discharge of this 
duty this Congress has proceeded to investigate 
their condition before it can assume the grave 



responsibility of declaring them provided with 
such a form of government as the Constitution 
exacts, and, moreover, imbued with such ii 
spirit to maintain it as shall entitle them to 
admission into full and complete relation with 
the Federal Union. 

But all information received from these States 
concurs in showing that the old chronic evil 
festers foully as Ijetbre. When first they found 
themselves overcome in the battle-field they 
were ready to submit with resignation to the 
will of the conqueror. They knew the penalty 
they had incurred for their crimes, and waited 
to see it meted out to them in full measure. 
To avert just punishment they would gladly 
have conceded suffrage to the negro, irrever- 
sible guarantees for his protection, and the 
maintenance of his rights, and accepted any 
other conditions with most cordial acquies- 
cence which the Government had chosen to 
impose. The country was led to believe, from 
the earnest and oft-repeated declaration of the 
President, that " treason was a crime, and must 
be made odious ;" that at least if the blood of 
the offenders was not to be demanded as an 
expiation, such penalties, restrictions, and con- 
ditions should be imposed as should make mem- 
orable their guilt, and afford some sort of guar- 
antee for the future safety of the nation. But 
soon more lenient counsels prevailed, and we 
behold the result. The rebels, who, a few months 
ago, believed themselves forever beaten in their 
attempts to destroy the Government, now stand 
erect with unconquerable hate to renew the 
struggle. All the vile passions which urged 
them on to the foul atrocities which have made 
their rebellion forever infamous in the annals 
of warfare are again let loose. They persecute 
loyal men ; they butcher the negroes ; they enact 
laws which practically reenslave the freedmen, 
and demand to be recognized as entitled to share 
in the Government they were lately sworn to 
destroy. They have taken the oath to stand 
by the Government, yet no man can be elected 
to an ofiice who has not been conspi^ous in 
the rebellion. There is no regret fWr their 
crime; no assurance of amendment; but with 
the ballot and seditious speech they are pre- 
paring to combat again the ideas vital to the 
safety of the Republic. Major General Thomas, 
now in command of the military division of 
Tennessee, testified before the committee of 
fifteen : 

"I have received communications from various per- 
sons in the South that there was an understanding 
among the rebels, and perhaps organizations formed 
or forming, for the purpose of gaining as many ad- 
vantages for themselves as possible ; and I have heard 
it also intimated that these men are very anxious and 
would do all in their power to involve the United 
States in a foreign war, so that if a favorable oppor- 
tunity should offer they might turn against the Gov- 
ernment of the United States again. I do not think 
they will ever again attempt an outbreak on their 
own account, because they all admit that they had 
a fair trial in the late rebellion and got thoroughly 
worsted. There is no doubt but what there is a uni- 



6 



versa! disposition among the rebels in the South to 
embitrrass the Government in its administration, if 
they can, so as to gain as many advantages for them- 
seh'es as possible. 

"Question. In what could those advantages consist; 
in breaking up the Oovernment ? 

" Anawei: They wish to be recognized as citizens 
of the United States, with the same rights that they 
had before the war. 

" Qiiextion. IIow can they do that— by involving us 
ma war with England orFrance,in which they would 
take part against us? 

" Ans-ioer. In that event their desire is io reestablish 
the southern confederacy. They have not yet given up 
tlieir desire for a separate government, and if they have 
anoppoHunity to strike for it again they will do so. 

" Question. Does the intelligence in regard to these 
organizations reach you from such authentic sources 
as^to command your belief of their existence? 

' Answer. Yes, sir; it comes from very reliable 
men." 

An officer of the Army, writing from Louisi- 
ana to Senator WiLSox, of Massachusetts, who 
is vouched for by him as a gentleman of intel- 
ligence and character, says: 

"There is not one spark of love for the Union in 
all that I have seen or can judge; but bitter, unre- 
lenting hate, full of the spirit of hell and death to 
the black man and his white benefactor. A leading 
man in this place told me a few days ago that they 
should not rest till paid for their freed slaves: if they 
could not get this they would exterminate them. I 
can assure you, iu the country a.way from notice the 
negro has not half the protection that he had five or 
even one year ago. The most ignorant, corrupt, and 
unprincipled set of men exist and rule society here 
on the earth. They have been forced back into the 
Union greater sinners now than when they went out 
of it. Could northern Senators travel through the 
South, stop and see it as it is, they would be appalled 
at the atrocities practiced and the undying hate to- 
ward northern men. With troops away, a northern 
life would be a thing of the past. I care not what 
freedmen's agents may say of the good condition of 
the blacks. I say their condition is wretched and 
heart-rendmg, ami all by the abuse and studied per- 
secution of their former masters. All the men, from 
General Grant, General Howard, &c., down, who pay 
flying visits to the South, know nothing of the state 
ot society and suffering, nothing of the persistent de- 
termination to kill out the black race." 

If such things be, how long shall we continue 
to maintain that ''steady temper" which 

"Can look on guilt, rebellion, fraud, and Caisar 
In the calm lights of mild philosophy?" 

Little did our brave heroes who lay in the 
bloody trenches before Petersburg or stood 
upon ''Me perilous edge of battle"' amidst the 
terrible carnage dealt out from rebel hosts 
dream that in a few short months rebel leaders 
were to stand at the doors of Congress claiming 
their seats to take part in the government of 
the nation. We owe it to the memory of the 
dead and the honor of the living heroes who 
have saved the nation, to the enormous sacri- 
fices which a loyal and devoted people have 
offered up so freely in our peril, that at least, 
if the Government shall "like a painted Jove 
keep idle thunder in its lifted hand" and let 
traitors go "unwhipped of justice," we should 
hold them back from coming again so near as 
to endanger our future peace. 

What muniments, then, shall be erected to 
drive back the threatening danger to the dis- 
turbance of our future peace ? It is urged that 



loyal Representatives should be admitted where 
ever found. This would be a mere recognition 
of loyalty b^ itself, and not reconstruction or 
reorganization. We are dealing with States, 
not scattered individuals. As States they went 
into rebellion ; as States we seek to reorganize 
their government; to States the Constitution 
requires the guarantee enforced of republican 
forms of government ; by States the apportion- 
ment of Kepresentatives is made, and it is only 
as States they are to be restored to their nor- 
mal relations to the Federal Union. The ad- 
mission of a Representative here and there who 
happens to be personally loyal does not touch 
the great point of controversy at all. Besides, 
even if a Representative elected may prove to 
be loyal, the constituency behind him may be 
utterly rebellious and disloyal. It is with the 
people of these States we must deal when we 
come to final adjustment of the question. 
_ Suppose we should adopt the plan of admit- 
ting Representatives solely on the ground of 
their personal loyalty, and should in the case 
of a given State, say Tennessee, admit all the 
Representatives from that State. Suppose that 
at the next congressional election every one of 
these gentlemen were defeated at the polls, and 
in their places rank, notorious traitors were 
elected, not one of whom could take the oath" 
nor even intended to. We necessarily could'' 
not admit 'them, and the State of Tennessee 
again would stand where she does now, out of 
normal relation to the Union. What progress 
has been made toward restoration in such a 
case? On the contrary, is not the last condi- 
tion of that State worse than the first? By this 
course of proceeding we should by that"time 
have crushed out the germs of loyalty which 
by nurture and protection from the General 
Government and by a more radical policy might 
have gathered sufficient strength to make suc- 
cessful resistance to the enemies of the Gov- 
ernment, while the latter would become defiant 
and strong, and be in a condition to successfully- 
thwart all the beneficent designs of the Govern-'^ 
ment to establish social order on the basis of"' 
freedom, protection, and equality of rights. 
Already, even in this very State of Tennessee, 
which has drawn so largely upon the sympathy 
of the American people and of this House, on 
account of the devoted loyalty of some of their 
people through perils and sacrifices and perse- 
cution which have canonized them in the popu- 
lar heart— as martyrs to the sacred cause of 
lilierty, we are told by Governor Brownlow, 
only two weeks since, that a few days before 
the date of his letter — 

"The election of county officers took place through- 
out the State,such as clerks, sheriff, justices, trustees 
and tax collectors, and in Middle and West Tennes- 
see the rebels have made a clean sweep, turning the 
Union men out and electing their own candidates, 
who electioneered for office on the ground that they 
were rebels, and had either served in the rebel army 
or in some other capacity had given their influence 
to the cause of treason and traitors." 



Another plan is, in general statement, to ex- 
act or impose "irreversible guax-antees" for 
the rights of the freedmen ; to repudiate the 
rebel debt and maintain true allegiance to the 
Federal Government. How shall these guar- 
antees be obtained? Is it to be by acts of State 
Legislatures, and by amendments to State con- 
stitutions? How can we make such sort of 
guarantees irreversible? Any subsequent Le- 
gislature or convention may at their pleasure 
abrogate them. If we propose to put them in 
the Constitution of the United States how will 
we get them there? If these States are part 
of the Union their voice is needed to make up 
the requisite three fourths Kjf the States before 
your guarantees can be ingrafted in the funda- 
mental law. Will they readily put manacles 
upon their own hands? If they are to be con- 
sidered out of the Union and not to be counted, 
they will then claim they are not bound by 
enactments which they had no part in creating. 

But, apart from this view of the subject, con- 
sider the effects of delay involved in waiting 
for the uncertain action of the Legislatures of 
States upon amendments to the Constitution. 
These States are rapidly, nay, fearfully, laps- 
ing into a condition of anarchy. The life, 
projjerty, and liberty of loyal men within their 
borders are becoming every day more endan- 
gered. Humanity, justice, the honor of the 
Government, sternly demand that governments 
be established upon sure foundations at once 
in those States. We have seen the utter fail- 
ure of the attempt to trust to the people them- 
selves to organize such governments as shall 
be willing to afford those "irreversible guar- 
antees ' ' we are determined to have. We have 
seen that the clemency of the President has 
not reenforced the loyal men of these States, 
but on the contrary has only reanimated the 
lately stiffened corpse of rebellion. Although 
with the aid of the military power of the Govern- 
ment these so-called loyal State governments 
may have made some sort of hollow pretense 
of authority and control in their respective 
States, it is yet notorious that if the military 
forces were withdrawn, the whole eleven "way- 
ward States" would be in rebellion in thirty 
days thereafter. Not perhaps in organized, 
armed rebellion, but with governments which 
would proscribe the loj'al friends of the Union, 
and be wholly under the control of its unre- 
lenting foes. 

What course, then, shall be pursued to bring 
these people back on a platform of justice and 
peace ? 1 know of but one way by which these 
States may be restored, and that is to recognize 
them as entitled to representation, only when the 
majority of the people of each State respect- 
ively is willing and able to maintain a loyal 
government, and afford those guarantees which 
eternal justice will ever demand for the protec- 
tion of human rights. That is no State where a 
minority can only govern when backed by a mili- 



tary power from without. Itis a conquered prov- 
ince only, and the Governor thereof, wlietho 
appointed by the Presidcut or put into place by 
the form of an election, wherein only one tenth 
of the population over whom he is to adminis 
ter, participate, is little better than its pm- 
consul. It is against the vital principles of oui 
polity to- call that a republican governmeni 
which has not the consent of the great mas.") 
of the governed. 

Mr. Speaker, reenforce the loyal white 
men of these States, not by soldiers i'rorn with- 
out, but by the loyal black men within these 
States. At one bound loyalty may then spring 
into the arena and claim and hold its own 
against all comers. We have found them true 
when even the white Unionists have faltered. 
Lately our faithful allies and friends in our 
greatest peril, they stand ready again in this 
' ' imminent deadly breach ' ' to extricate us from 
the impending danger of anarchy and civil dis- 
order. Prejudice made us hesitate to use them 
in war, but that prejudice was brought to shame 
by the devotion, fidelity, and courage they ex- 
hibited everywhere. Is it manly, in view of the 
patriotic aid we have been willing to accept 
from these people to save the Government, now 
to deny them any right to maintain and defend 
it and share in all its privileges, especially when 
by their enfranchisement we see the solution 
of this momentous problem of the restoration 
of social order over one third the area of these 
United States? It is said there is no power to 
enfranchise the negro except by the several 
States. While I admit that such has been the 
commonly received opinion, I not only believe 
the power exists in the Constitution itself, but 
the power finds its best argument in the very 
nature of the case. Is it not monstrous that 
four million people, whom we, by military power 
and constitutional enactment, have made free 
and independent citizens of the Republic, shall 
be deprived of the right to vote for no better 
reason than because of the color of their skin? 
They may be many of them Caspar Hausers, and 
suddenly emei'ging from the night of slavery 
into the meridian blaze of freedom may be 
unfitted to comprehend the philosophy of citi- 
zenship. Such an objection is entitled to re- 
spect. But build your school-houses, give them 
your Bible, and open their eyes to a realization 
of the true glory of their new baptism of regen- 
eration. 

Besides, we derive the power from the law 
of nations. I quote again from Vattel : 

"A nation has a right to everything that can secure 
it from threatening danger, and to keep at a distance 
whatever is capable of causing its ruin ; and thatfrom 
tlic very same reasons that establish its rights to the 
things necessary to its preservation." 

The "threatening danger" is that the ene- 
mies of the Government will overjjower the 
loyal men in these rebel States and crush out 
the liberties of the people, unless this large 



8 



body of loyal citizens who have noshare in the 
Government are invested with the privileo-e of 
the ballot. The "threatening danger "*is in 
leaving a great mass of people us a mere ex- 
crescence upon the body-politic, compelled to 
be subject to laws they are not permitted to 
share in making or administering, and believ- 
ing themselves separate and apart from the 
social system— political outcasts, denied the 
political rights which their traitor masters who 
enslaved them may freely enjoy. 

Nor is such a condition of things consistent 
with the idea of that republican form of gov- 
ernment which the United States shall guar- 
antee to every State. While the State of South 
Carohna proscribes one half of her population 
on account of race or color, can it be said that 
she has a republican form of government ? If 
the United States must guarantee a republican 
government, it is competent' for Congress to 
create such guarantee in such form and in such 
a manner as may seem wisest to secure the de- 
sired end. What more rational, proper, humane, 
and consistent course can be adopted than to 
entranchise the freedmen to create an irreversi- 
ble guarantee for the future peace and safety of 
the nation ? 

I am aware that -we have not yet outgrown 
our prejudice against this unfortunate race, but 
It IS high time we recognize, that they have, in 
the past four years, effectually vindicated their 
manhood and established a lasting claim upon 
our gratitude. The ballot is a precious boon 
to grant to them, and we should ourselves be 
none the poorer for the gift. In the eloquent 



language of the distinguished Senator from 
Massachusetts — 

"To him who has the ballot all other thinss shall 
bo given -protection, opportunity erlucatTon a 
homestead The ballot is like tl^e Horn of Ab'un- 
dauco outof whieh overflow rights of ever" kind w th 
corn.^nee, and allthe fruits of the earth" * * 
_ (iive me the ballot and I can move tho 

world may be the exclamation of the nac^ still 
despoiled of this right. There is nothing which it 
cannot open with almost fabulous power! lu'e that 
th'e hanT of ?f ■ «f h«'^S<^f t^ sturdy oak which, in 
tne hands of the classical adventurer, unclosed the 

U fs r?L°w''r*''-r ^""'^S '^^^ ^'^^ ^^^^ golden bough! 
it lb 1 cnewed as it is used— 

" 'ei"" ?l"^^,'^'? ^^'^?\' a second branch you see 
bhoot forth in gold and glitter from tho tree.' " 

Mr. Speaker, in this great "march to the 
sea ot safety and peace for this mighty Re- 
public, let us tramp in solid column and with 
sounding tread ; firm in our adherence to the 
eternal principles of Right, with undaunted 
courage to maintain and defend them : iire- 
pared to make no concessions which may put 
' Truth again upon the scaffold and Wrong 
upoq the throne ;" and we may at last join our 
voices in glad hosannas over a reo-enerated 
nation. But the yielding of the firsi iota of 
the great principles of liberty at stake would 
be a disgraceful compromise of the dignity and 
honor of the nation. 

" What boots it at one gate to make defense 
And at another let in the foe ?" 

Our safety alone lies in guarding the citadel 
at every point. Make strong the weak places, 
and take care no treacherous foe in friendly 
guise shall pass within our walls to betray us 
to our ruin. 



Printed at the Congressional Globe Office. 



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